Public Information Design

TV Licence information design

Research:

•  Annual TV licence fee is £145.50 per household. Payment can be made yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly to best suit you but the costs may vary depending.

• They have a database containing 31 million licensed and unlicensed addresses. This tells them who has a TV licence.

• Enforcement officers do random checks to see whether a household has a TV and whether it is licensed or unlicensed.

• Detector vans and TV receiving equipment can detect whether a household has a TV licence or not and can find a specific household within minutes.

• http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk 

Facts and statistics:

• It was recorded that as at March 2014, around 96% of UK homes have a television set or watch live TV on other devices.

• The number of TV licences in force as at 2013/14 was 25,419,296. As at 31^st March 2014, 11,018 black and white (mono) TV licences were issued.

•  As at 31^st March 2014, 331,726 addresses were recorded to have more than one TV licence as these were properties such as student accommodation or owners moving premises.

• In 2013, 153,369 people were found guilty and sentenced for not having a TV licence.

• In 2013, the total amount collected in fines for not having a TV licence were £25,892,995.

• Watching live TV without a valid TV licence is a criminal offence and could lead to prosecution, a court appearance and a fine of up to £1,000 (without legal costs).

Ideas

• Infographic containing statistics – casual & maybe easier to read

• Letter based - formal

• A4 size paper + 1 inch for the fold. Size: 21cm x 32.2cm (2.5cm will be the fold). 
• It would be split into 3 columns (4 including the fold). Its will be folded in a typical letter format and when opened, it will be read vertically so that it looks formal and orderly. The letter would have glue dots to seal the sides of to save the use of an envelope.
• Pictograms.

Research:

The information I gathered came directly from the TV licensing website. I searched for the facts and statistics of system. I found some tried to pick out the most important ones but I would still have to narrow down some facts as I cannot put them all into the leaflet as it would be too much to read and the reader may get bored easily or be put off by the amount of words what are on the leaflet. The information from the TV Licence video is outdated as it said that the annual TV licensing fee is £126.50 per household but is £145.50 currently so I had to change that information from the video and put the correct information in my leaflet.

Having researched information on infographics, I want the leaflet to look simpler as it would make the TV licensing leaflet more exciting and fun. This would be work well as I plan to use facts and statistics in the leaflet. 

 

Ideas:

As I wanted to make my leaflet appear formal, I decided to make it in a letter format, so when the leaflet is folded up, it appears to be an envelope. I decided not to waste an envelope and just use glue dots to stick the sides and folds together so it is reduces paper waste and also because as a leaflet, I wanted it to fold out and for it all to be on one page. The page size would be slightly higher than A4 being 21cm x 32.2cm (the 2.5cm will be the fold). When the leaflet is folded up into the letter format, the size would be 21cm x 9.9cm.

When the leaflet is folded up into a letter, on the outside it would say something like ‘OFFICIAL WARNING’ to make it more effective and enigmatic to the reader as it makes people more curious as to what is inside. The use of words would make the leaflet appear more serious which I had in mind since people would think it is important. I want to try a bold colour such as bright red because it a type of colour that alerts people to want to read what is inside. The use of the red would also look very eye-catching as it  a intense colour.

For the inside of the leaflet, when it is opened up, the A4 paper will be split up into three rows that are made up from the folds.  I initially wanted to create an infographic supported with the facts about TV licensing as I wanted to counteract the seriousness of the ‘OFFICIAL WARNING’ on the front, and make it livelier. I was not able to do this because the facts would be too long to fit into or around the pictograms and it would look overcrowded. I tried to narrow done the facts but all the information were essential for the leaflet.

I came up with two ideas for inside the leaflet. I was sure that I was going to include at least three pictograms that were a TV, a tablet device and a van, this is is because it relates to the three main facts I needed in the leaflet. The first idea was to put all three pictograms on the top row with the facts inside and then on the middle and bottom row, I would write more facts and the TV licensing information but I thought it would have too much writing in. The second idea was to split the pictograms onto all three rows and having additional facts near them.

I created a tablet device, a TV and a van as pictograms to go in my leaflet. I decided not to do more as I thought it may look congested. I’ve tried to make as much space on the pictogram as I could but making it look even since I am going to put facts and figures inside of the pictogram designs. I decided to use black and white colour for the designs as I don’t want the colours to clash along with the leaflet background colour.

I will be placing the pictograms on the left side with the van facing the right. I have chose to do this because in the UK, people read from the left to the right side so it makes more sense placing the pictograms on the left as it looks more organised and clear to read. This is also why the van would be facing the right but placed on the left, so it would allow the reader to easily follow the additional information to the right.

The actual leaflet inside has three different shades of blue, a lighter blue for the background and a gradient darker blue on the left of each arrow (darker shade is it reaches the bottom). The bottom two arrows are the same shade of blue as I didn’t want the design being too dark. I have done this as it gives the leaflet more character and so it looks more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I got the blue colour idea from the TV licensing website as their theme is blue. I chose to use lighter shades of blue as it looks more relaxed than a darker shade. The red tone I used for the reverse side of the leaflet is a bright red. I am not sure on the red as it clashes with my whole blue leaflet theme inside.  I used Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk  as the font on the outside because it is a bold typeface and is easily seen, therefore adding more effect to the seriousness of the leaflet.  I have made the most important information in bold as it stands out more.

For the typeface on the actual indie of the leaflet, I used Menlo Regular. The typeface is a robot/computerised font that is nostalgic as it reminded me of the teletext guide from the old big box TVs. I think it looks the most suitable as it is a typeface as it is looks pixelated and especially as the leaflet is aimed at adults, they may remember the typeface from old TVs when they were younger.

Feedback

Do you think the colours are effective? Are they suitable?

• I like the blue because it reminds me of their websiteYes, the blue works well especially the gradient because it puts the whole leaflet together and it is more fun than boring. I think the red is too bright though
• I understand why you want to use red but it is too bright and doesn’t work work well with the blue
• The shade of blue is subtle and makes the writing easy to read
• I think you should chose black instead of red
• I really like the blue!!
• Yes, except the red is too bright

Do you think the leaflet looks convincing?

• Yes, it is straight to the point
• I like the designs, they are suitable for the information given
• The idea of having something serious on the front, then opening it up to something brighter and more cheerful makes it exciting
• Yes but maybe move the van more to the right, in line with the other 2 pictograms
• Yeah, all the information provided will be useful for people to easily pay or find out more information about TV licensing
• I’m not sure on the arrows

Does the leaflet contain enough facts and the correct information?

• I think you got the main information in!
• I don’t think you should put more information in as it may bore people. You have a good amount
• I think the information will be enough to scare people into buying a licence!
• Yes
• Yes, it doesn’t look overcrowded, you have the right balance between the designs and the words
• Yeah, it looks fine

Production

Having read the feedback, I decided to get rid of the arrows because it was unnecessary and was only there for aesthetically. I still kept the gradient colour for each rows so that it the dark tone at the bottom acts as the anchor for the gaze to bring the viewer down to the bottom of the page which is the most important as it contains the contact information. Having removed the arrows, it has allowed me to make the pictograms bigger so that it fills up more of the leaflet and so that the type size can be slightly larger so it would be easier to read.

I did slightly adjust the blue from the original design. On the colour swatch, two of the blue tones have turned out being the same name although one is slightly darker.

For the front part of the leaflet, I decided to switch the ‘OFFICIAL WARNING’ into a black colour as it is not as obnoxious as the bright red and works well with the colours inside the leaflet. I think the black is just as effective as the red and still carries the same urgency, having a consistent colour code makes it seem more important.

I experimented with paper by using the G F Smith ‘Colorplan’ book. I had the colour white in mind as it made sense as it is a letter format and also because white will work the best with the light shades of blue on the leaflet. From using the book, I thought that I would go for a 175gsm thickness paper but having felt a larger size paper, I thought it was too heavy for a leaflet/letter paper so I went for a thinner paper of 135gsm, if it was any thinner than this then it would tear easily or would easily be seen through, which would ruin the element of surprise of the leaflet.

I had looked at different shades of white but in the end I decided to chose ‘Pristine White’ because I wanted it to be a clean white so that the blue wouldn't be dulled down if I chose a darker white shade. The paper I chose was slightly rough, it is not as smooth as standard print paper but it works well as a leaflet as its thickness isn’t too thin either.

Final outcome

I think the leaflet turned out well because I have managed to create a leaflet within a letter.

The use of juxtaposition of context of  the severe importance on the outside of the leaflet, when it is folded up to the diverting amusement on the inside makes it more engaging to the audience. By using the main important facts rather than write word after word makes it less dull to receive and people may want to actually read it rather than bin it if it looks exciting inside.

I think the end result would really appeal to adults and homeowners as people may not have time to pick up/read letters so having basic and simple facts supported by the contact details gets the leaflet straight to the point in which they can read it more easily. The use of the pictogram designs are significant to the TV licensing facts so the words inside are ironic to the pictogram and so it would not confuse the readers. I really like the typeface as it is an old-school typeface that people used to always see when reading text from a television. This could make readers feel more fascinated by the leaflet as they may feel that the typeface takes them back. The bold text on the important information such as the website, phone number and statistics points at the key areas that I want the audience to be aware of, which is why they stand out the most. The leaflet is also very convenient as it doesn’t require an additional envelope as it manifests into a fold out letter which will be stuck down using glue dots which will reduce unnecessary paper use.

The use of the three shades of blue really brings the leaflet together as it makes it seem less boring than having one solid colour and because it leads the viewers eyes right down to the bottom of the leaflet, meaning they have read all the information.

I do however think that the leaflet does look slightly plain and could do with more experimentation but I think it is still effective.